The careful review and analysis of environmental effects of surface transportation projects is only valuable in so far as it can be put to practical use. This requires that the effects be understood, recognized by key parties and acted upon to the greatest extent possible. Only an effective and continuing interaction of environmental analyst, community and implementing agency can accomplish these objectives. The careful selection and use of social analysis methodologies may inform this process, but they are of no use without the interaction of those affected, those designing the system and those elected to make the critical decisions. The objective of this paper is to describe interaction of analyst, community and agency stages in the transportation planning and design to draw from personal experience a variety of which illustrate the practical applications interaction. the effective at critical process, and case studies of such an The development of social analysis techniques from an early infatuation with numerical measures to a more realistic respect for informed judgment is reviewed. Six stages of transportation planning and analysis are outlined; research tasks for the environmental analyst are described; and a parallel set of objectives for community/analyst/agency interaction are provided. If the goal is to make future investment in surface transportation systems a positive force in urban development and revitalization, a practical application of social impact assessment can be a critical factor in achieving that goal. (Author/publisher)
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